1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved mounting mechanism attaching a computer board such as a printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) to a chassis board/wall/surface or other computer support wall or to another board such as motherboard and, in particular, to a device that allows tool-less attachment of a PCBA or other computer board to or within a computer chassis and also typically allows tool-less and/or quick release from the chassis to facilitate maintenance or replacement.
2. Relevant Background
Computing devices (i.e., servers, personal computers, and the like) are generally produced with an open architecture design to allow additional functions to be later added to the device such as by adding or replacing one or more printed circuit board assemblies or PCBAs. For example, a motherboard is a PCBA on a computing device that supports the main processing components and provides electrical connections to ancillary components such as power supplies, disc drives, and the like. To add additional functionality to the computing device, expansion boards of differently configured PCBAs (also referred to as expansion cards, expansion modules, adapter cards, accessory cards, and so on) can be inserted into an expansion socket on the motherboard. Examples of expansion boards include but are not limited to graphics cards, sound cards, network cards, modems, and printer ports.
Due to the increasing density of computer devices such as servers, PCBAs and expansion boards are being positioned ever closer to each other within the computer chassis. Such tight spacing or limited real estate for computer components results in awkward PCBA placement, and it often can be difficult to provide direct and unobstructed access to the PCBA for assembly of the computer device and servicing. For example, a PCBA may be mounted vertically onto the chassis or a wall/support attached to the chassis, but the physical arrangement may not provide direct access for a screwdriver to facilitate installation/assembly and/or it may not allow for later removal (e.g., after additional components are installed near the PCBA). In an attempt to address these PCBA mounting problems, complex retention and attachment mechanisms have sometimes been designed and used in computer devices to mount PCBAs. However, these mechanisms often require special tools and involve use of a number of loose or additional mounting components including fasteners that add to assembly costs and often are dropped into the chassis or lost. Additionally, these complex mounting mechanisms are often bulky or large and take up significant amounts of space within the chassis, which uses up precious real estate or space within the chassis that has limited the adoption and use of these devices.
Hence, there remains a need for improved devices for mounting expansion boards within the box or chassis of a computer device such as a server. Preferably, such mounting devices would facilitate both installation and removal of the expansion board and would also provide a stabilizer to minimize risk of damage during movement of the computer device (e.g., during shipping or other movements that may cause the device and its boards to flex or vibrate).